


Please Leave a Message at the Tone

by meimentomori



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Feels, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Depression, Gay Keith (Voltron), Heavy Angst, M/M, Suicide, klangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-25 21:59:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14986487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meimentomori/pseuds/meimentomori
Summary: Keith won't pick up his phone, so Lance decides to leave him messages until he does.





	Please Leave a Message at the Tone

**Author's Note:**

> this is one of my angstier pieces so trigger warnings for suicide and depression.  
> i'm sorry.

“Hey, Keith? When you get this, call me. I wanted to ask you something. It’s not anything bad. Well, I hope that you don’t think it’s bad. Just, call me when you can.”

“Keith! I know you’re probably busy or whatever but do you think you could swing by the library? It’s quiet tonight. I mean, quieter than usual, for a library. Less people for the librarians to worry about. One of them’s staring me down as I’m leaving this message. Hope she doesn’t mind me asking for company. I thought we could hang out, just the two of us? Call me when you get here, okay?”

“I know the library isn’t really your scene so I’m back at my dorm now. Sorry if the music’s loud outside. You were right about that whole ‘freshmen don’t know when to stop partying’ thing. They’ve been at this since six or something. Thank God I have this room all to myself, huh? Swing by if you can. I wanna see your face again. I miss it when you smile.”

“I don’t know if you got what I was saying with that last message but if you did, I’m sorry if you don’t feel that way. I know that that sort of thing can make or break friendships so that’s why I put off saying anything at all. You might not even realize what I’m talking about. If you do, just know I didn’t want this to come between us so even if you like someone else or whatever, please call me back. And if you don’t, call me anyways. I miss you, buddy.”

“Keith, I get it if you’re too scared to talk to me. I would be too after everything we’ve been through together. It won’t hurt me if you didn’t understand my last message. It won’t hurt even if you did and you’re trying to move on. You don’t have to call me back if you don't want to. You could just text me? Like a picture of mine on Instagram? You and I both know there are more than plenty of those for you to look at. Just give me a sign that you’re okay.”

“It’s been a week, Keith. I stopped by your classes to see if any of your professors had seen you but they said you’ve been out all week. Is it because of what happened last weekend? I didn’t think that you would remember but I guess we both weren’t drunk enough. I’ll forget it, if you want. We don’t have to remember anything that happened. We can just forget about all of these messages and then and try to move on. Be friends like we used to be. I know you might need some time away from me but, come to your classes at least? Please?”

“I wish that you had given me your address, Keith. Pidge tried hacking into all of your social media accounts to see if you had listed it anywhere but she said she couldn’t find anything. God, this is all my fault, isn’t it? You had to go missing all because of one stupid night at a party that I dragged you to. For the record, it was one of the best nights of my life, if that’s what’s worrying you. Possibly the best. Get in touch when you can, okay?”

“Shiro called me today asking where you were. You never told me that you had an older brother. He seems really nice. He’s really worried about you, Keith. He cares a lot about you, you know. I do too. You might not believe it since the only talk we really had was before all of that stuff went down but I do. I might hide it under all of that confidence I have but really? I’m not like that at all. I’m just a boy from Cuba who has no idea where the hell I’m going in life. I covered myself up so that I wouldn’t have to worry about you getting too close. But then, I started to let my guard down and I shouldn’t have. I should’ve kept you at a distance. You weren’t ready for this. I know you weren’t. Shiro gave me your address and asked me to stop by. I don’t want to but I think I have to. You’re worrying me, Keith. You always have.”

“I’m outside your door. I don’t want to knock in case your sleeping but I’m here for you. I’ve always been here for you if you needed me, Keith. I… God. I don’t think I should say this. Do I want to say this? I guess what I’ve been trying to tell you all along is that I love you, Keith. I do. And I don’t know why I couldn’t tell you sooner but you’re who I’m always talking about. I used Allura to cover up my feelings for you. It probably confused you at the party, I bet. All along, I was pining for you. I haven’t cared about her since middle school. Okay, maybe a little into high school too but...Ugh, why am I crying? I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Keith. I didn’t mean to fall in love with you. I guess that’s love though, isn’t it? You never see it coming.”

“H-Hello. My emergency? It’s my friend. My boyfriend. Keith Kogane. He’s not breathing and he’s in bed and I don’t know how to get him to wake up. What? Is is face blue? Here, hold on, let me turn on a light. Holy shit. Fuck that’s...Yeah, it’s...blue. Somebody’s coming to get him? How long will that take? Okay. I should say goodbye before then? I’m now allowed to ride with him since it’s just his corpse? But he was just alive. He was, I swear. We were at a party the other weekend and he was so alive and bright and he had the entire universe within him just waiting to be explored. His hands were in mine and his eyes looked at me like I was everything he needed and… No, I’m fine. Thanks. I’ll say goodbye.”

“I had to call you so that I could hear your voice again. I don’t think I could say goodbye without hearing it one last time. Your couch smells like you. It reminds me of home. I don’t know why you didn’t come to me, Keith. I don’t know why you didn’t trust me. You had me by your side almost every waking minute and you never once thought to bring up your depression? I shouldn’t be getting mad at you. I wouldn’t have gotten mad at you when you were alive if you had told me. But I know that you’re not the kind of person to open up to people that easily. Or, at all. If you couldn’t open up to Shiro then why should I have expected you to open up to me? I bet I was delusional, wasn’t I? I thought I saw something in your eyes. I thought they sparkled whenever they looked at me but maybe you were crying. Maybe I couldn’t see it because I was blinded by love. I’ll always keep you in my heart, Keith. You can take it with you to your grave, if you want. It’s not like I’m going to need it anymore. Goodbye, Keith. I love you.”

“You have one missed voice message.”

“Lance? Hey. Sorry I didn’t call you after the party. I was thinking about some things and I decided that life’s too tiring, you know? There are only so many things that can keep you going. So many bits of your heart that you can give away. I know that it was a fluke, what happened then. You don’t have to call me to try and make up for it. You can move on happily now, without me bogging you down with my constant need for attention. I shouldn’t have let you drag me out to that party. Parties always end in nothing but alcohol, fights, or tears. This one was no exception. I do love you, Lance. That’s why I’m doing this for you. You deserve better than me and I know that the closer and closer we get, the further and further I’m gonna retreat into my shell and you don’t need to bother yourself with trying to drag me out of it. You have enough problems as it is. My heart shouldn’t be one of them.”

“But now it always will be, Keith. Until the day I die.”


End file.
